Visions for Plaza Saltillo

9:39 am

Tue June 24, 2014

Hotel or Grocery Store? Two Visions to Redevelop East Austin's Plaza Saltillo

Update: Capital Metro has chosen a developer for its Plaza Saltillo project, spanning 11-acres that used to be a downtown rail yard.

The team led by Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate and Dallas’s Columbus Realty was awarded the project at the Capital Metro Board of Directors meeting yesterday. Capital Metro will have the final say on the design. Read below for more.

Original story (May 21): What does the future hold for East Austin's Plaza Saltillo? This week, the city came a few steps closer to finding out.

For years, Austin's Capital Metro has held 11 acres of land in central east Austin. The Plaza Saltillo region – bound by Interstate 35 on the west, Comal Street on the east, and between E. Fourth and E. Fifth Streets – sits adjacent to Cap Metro's commuter MetroRail line.

Despite its central location, large parts of the region have stood largely unchanged – but not for much longer.

The 11-acre Plaza Saltillo region as it is today. Two teams of developers are vying for the right to develop the area.

The Endeavor team calls for 800 housing units directly along the rail line. A quarter of the units (200) would be affordable housing apartments, with half of those affordable units reserved for seniors.

A breakdown of proposed rental housing and retail for Plaza Saltillo.

Credit Endeavor Real Estate/Columbus Realty Partners/Capital Metro

Approximately one-fourth of the land would be dedicated to retail and commercial use, with stores facing E. Fifth Street. Endeavor calls for a 60,000 sq. ft. full service grocery store at the I-35 frontage road to pull in customers from surrounding areas and create a connection with neighboring communities. The plan also calls for an "urban green" for outdoor recreation, and a market containing "permanent artisan and craft shops."

Various land use proposals for Plaza Saltillo

Credit Endeavor Real Estate/Columbus Realty Partners/Capital Metro

What's in the Saltillo Collaborative Proposal:

Saltillo Collaborative also sets aside 25 percent of residential units for affordable housing, with the rest going at market rate. The affordable and market rate housing will be separated, with affordable units on the west, and market rate housing more eastward.

A rendering of market rate housing units along E. Fifth Street.

Credit Saltillo Collaborative/Capital Metro

Where Endeavor plans a grocery store along the I-35 frontage road, Saltillo Collaborative envisions a hotel near the interstate. Both developers plan to incorporate local businesses for their retail and commercial space. And both plans fit into Austin's transit-oriented development guidelines.